Wednesday Happenings

Bad Art

-- Bostonians no longer have to trek out to Dedham for a dose of bad art. The Museum of Bad Art opens its Somerville branch tonight. Come for the watercolor dogs, stay for the unflattering nudes. Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, 7:00pm. Free.

Burlesque

-- It's billiard balls and pasties tonight as Boston's venerable Babydolls perform. Unfortunately, the free guest list passes have all been given out. Boston Billiards, 126 Brookline Ave., 8:00pm. $5.

Movies

-- School of the MFA professor Jane Gilloly has attracted considerable attention with her documentary, Today the Hawk Takes One Chick about the AIDS crisis in Swaziland. She discusses her experiences in film as a part of Women in Film & Video New England's Chicks Make Flicks series. Building 6-120, MIT, 77 Mass Ave., Cambridge, 7:00pm. Free.

-- Mel Cheren, who died last year, was the unseen hand that made New York's 1970s disco scene throb. The mastermind behind West End Records and the Paradise Garage, Cheren embodied all the qualities that made disco great. As the 80s lurched by, he found himself an activist, working to establish Gay Men's Health Crisis. He's the focus of the documentary The Godfather of Disco (2007). Museum of Fine Arts, 8:30 pm.

Image from Museum of Bad Art.